Written Answers Wednesday 5 December 2007

Scottish Executive

2014 Commonwealth Games

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be carbon neutral.

Stewart Maxwell: The Glasgow 2014 Candidate City File (CCF) set out the environmental plans for the games. The CCF made specific commitments that all new and refurbished games associated buildings will be no or low carbon, to low emission zones around games venues, car-free venues, high technology vehicles in the games village and the use of renewable energy. The CCF also committed to the provision of a fund, by the Scottish Government, to Commonwealth countries for off-setting carbon emissions generated by the games. This will be targeted at climate change adaptation and mitigation in Commonwealth countries. Furthermore, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the games village is carbon-neutral.

  Delivery of the measures contained within the CCF is a matter for the Games Organising Company, in conjunction with the key games partners – the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland – and in consultation with key environmental bodies represented on the Glasgow 2014 Environmental Forum.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to encourage the widest possible geographic spread of training bases for participating teams at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that benefits from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games are felt across Scotland, and will work with the Games Organising Company and local authorities to enable this.

  A Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) Services team will be set up within the Organising Company to look after the needs of the visiting CGAs. This will include advising them of which Scottish facilities would best suit their athletes training needs.

Adult Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the West Dunbartonshire Literacy Initiative to be effective.

Adam Ingram: Research evidence from West Dunbartonshire Council’s Early Intervention Initiative is very encouraging and provides a model of good practice. The Scottish Government has acknowledged the success of the initiative and would encourage other education authorities to look at what has been achieved. The attainment of Scottish pupils in reading is generally good with 81% of pupils attaining national levels. The Scottish Government is fully committed to raising levels of attainment in literacy and the Curriculum for Excellence places strong emphasis on the development of literacy across the curriculum, with all teachers having responsibility for promoting language and literacy development.

Adult Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will roll out the West Dunbartonshire Initiative across Scotland.

Adam Ingram: Research evidence from West Dunbartonshire Council’s Early Intervention Initiative is very encouraging. The government has acknowledged the success of the scheme and encourages other authorities to look at what has been achieved. Individual education authorities and schools are free to make their own judgements about what approaches to literacy development best meets local need. Many other authorities are also achieving good results with early intervention approaches as evidenced by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education. Our historic concordat with COSLA emphasises that our relationship with local government should be focussed on outcomes.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what time targets apply to the ambulance service for responding to emergency calls and what times are actually achieved for the Vale of Leven Hospital catchment area, broken down by local authority ward.

Shona Robison: The key response time targets which apply to the Scottish Ambulance Service differ according to the priority attached to the call. The performance information requested is not broken down by local authority ward, however the ambulance stations which service the Vale of Leven Hospital are Arrochar, Helensburgh and Vale of Leven and their performance is set out in the following table. Not all missions carried out from these stations will result in the patient being taken to the Vale of Leven hospital, as that will depend on the condition of the patient and whether the Vale of Leven is the most appropriate hospital for them to be taken to.

  Performance Against Category A (Life-Threatening) and Category B (Serious but not Life-Threatening Calls) between 1 April 2007 and 25 November 2007.

  

 Station
 Category A Demand
 Category A Met within 8 Minutes
 Category B Demand
 Category B Met within 21 Minutes


 Arrochar
 76
 6(7.9%)
 101
 50(49.5%)


 Helensburgh
 500
 269(53.8%)
 1,167
 1,073(91.9%


 Vale of Leven
 911
 557(61.1%)
 1,643
 1,538(93.6%)



  Note: *Information supplied by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32 by Richard Lochhead on 31 May 2007, when the regulations in respect of the transportation of puppies pursuant to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 will be laid.

Richard Lochhead: The draft Regulations on the licensing of dealers in puppies and kittens will be laid before Parliament early in the New Year. This is slightly later then anticipated as further legal work on the detail of the regulations was delayed due to essential work resulting from the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the autumn.

Antisocial Behaviour

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be rolled into the local authority settlement to tackle antisocial behaviour in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Fergus Ewing: Under the concordat agreed between Scottish ministers and COSLA, funding to tackle antisocial behaviour will be absorbed into the main local government settlement from 1 April 2008.

  The Scottish Government will be providing local government with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the funding to tackle antisocial behaviour will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority, in conjunction with their Community Planning Partners, to allocate funding on the basis of their local needs and priorities – having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities, including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and manifesto commitments.

Birds

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought a legal opinion on culling or translocating sparrowhawks to protect racing pigeons and, if so, what the opinion was.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Executive, by long-standing convention, does not disclose whether or not it has sought a legal opinion on a particular matter. We are investigating the options for dealing with sparrowhawk predation on racing pigeons.

Central Heating

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s announcement of new funding for the central heating programme on 21 November 2007, what its definition is of "most vulnerable pensioners".

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing will ask Scottish Gas to use in giving priority to the most vulnerable applicants to the central heating programme following her announcement on 21 November 2007.

Stewart Maxwell: I have asked James Hynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  The arrangements for handling waiting lists for central heating this winter, announced on 21 November 2007 by the Cabinet Secretary, will allow for accelerating installations for some applicants who are eligible for an installation under the private sector central heating programme. The key criterion for an installation to be accelerated on this basis is that the applicant has no heating and hot water. Since the objective is to minimise difficulty for pensioners who meet this criterion we have asked Scottish Gas to give most urgent attention to those who have no heating and hot water and are over 80, according to the length of time they have been waiting, and to those for whom having no heating or hot water could worsen a medical condition or significantly reduce their ability to live independently.

  The managing agent, Scottish Gas, will accelerate installations for householders who fall into this group in a way that does not slow down progress for those householders who are not in this situation, including those who already receive priority help from the programme on medical or social grounds.

Central Heating

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what options have been considered in examining the best use of resources deployed in the operation of the warm deal and central heating programme and whether any carbon use assessment has been undertaken on the matter.

Stewart Maxwell: Officials are currently carrying out an internal review of the extent of fuel poverty in Scotland which will assess how effective current programmes have been in making progress towards our target to end fuel poverty, as far as is reasonably practicable, by 2016 and whether the resources deployed on current programmes are being used to best advantage.

  The annual report on the central heating programme and warm deal provides an estimate of annual reductions in carbon emissions as a result of measures installed. For example over 2005-06 programmes achieved a predicted annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 66,687 tonnes. As well as improving the approach to tackling fuel poverty the current review will examine opportunities to strengthen the links between fuel poverty, energy efficiency and climate change objectives as part of our progress towards a fairer Scotland.

Class Sizes

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of non-class teaching educational space, including libraries, halls and gyms, will have to be utilised to meet the maximum class size pledge of 18 pupils in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: The detailed management of school accommodation is the responsibility of local authorities and schools themselves. Classrooms, libraries, halls and gyms are all integral parts of the learning and teaching areas within schools. In considering accommodation requirements, authorities and schools will look to optimising the flexibility of use of all educational spaces without adversely affecting essential activities for which such spaces are already used.

Class Sizes

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, if the implementation of the maximum class size pledge of 18 pupils in primary 1 to primary 3 results in the loss of educational amenities, what measures it intends to take to maintain a stimulating and diverse learning environment in schools.

Maureen Watt: Local authorities and schools themselves are responsible for the provision of appropriate and suitable learning and teaching environments. The Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with them in their endeavours towards continual improvement in this area.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in allowing flexibility in respect of class sizes of 18 for primary 1 to primary 3, it will provide the capital required by 2011 by each local authority that decides to implement a class size of 18.

Maureen Watt: In terms of the concordat between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish local authorities signed on 14 November 2007 there is significant growth in the capital budget being offered to local authorities. As part of that package, almost £3 billion, including an extra £115 million next year, will be available for investment by authorities over the three years from April 2008 in schools and other local government infrastructure. £40 million extra has already been allocated this year for capital expenditure linked to class size reduction.

Class Sizes

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what lowest number of pupils in a class is necessary for the satisfactory delivery of the curriculum for excellence.

Maureen Watt: The values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence  are not dependent on structures, nor constrained by specific class sizes. It is for individual authorities to consider how best to provide an enriched curriculum for pupils in order to maximise the educational benefits for pupils.

Communities

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be rolled into the local authority settlement to pay for community safety partnerships in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Fergus Ewing: Under the Concordat agreed between Scottish ministers and COSLA, the ring-fence around Community Safety funding will be removed from 1 April 2008, with the funding being absorbed into the main local government settlement.

  The Scottish Government will be providing local government in Scotland with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the funding for implementation of community safety, will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and manifesto commitments.

Communities

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the expenditure for Safer Communities planned for the 2007-08 budget has been transferred to local authority grant aided expenditure for 2008-09.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the expenditure for Safer Communities planned for the 2007-08 budget has been transferred to local authority grant aided expenditure for 2008-09 in real terms.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any part of the local authority grant aided expenditure in the draft budget for 2009-10 will include funds for Safer Communities.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any part of the local authority grant aided expenditure in the draft budget for 2010-11 will include funds for Safer Communities.

Fergus Ewing: Under the concordat agreed between Scottish ministers and COSLA, funding for community safety and antisocial behaviour will be absorbed into the main local government settlement from 1 April 2008.

  The Scottish Government will be providing local government with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including funding for community safety and antisocial behaviour will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority, in conjunction with their Community Planning Partners, to allocate funding on the basis of their local needs and priorities – having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities, including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and manifesto commitments.

Communities

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for community regeneration in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08, (d) 2008-09, (e) 2009-10 and (f) 2010-11.

Stewart Maxwell: In the period 2005-08 the amount allocated from the Community Regeneration Fund to Community Planning Partnerships is displayed in the following table:

  

2005-06
£ Million
2006-07
£ Million
2007-08
£ Million


£104.525
£107.166
£108.458



  Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

  As part of the recent announcement of the Scottish Budget, provision has been made for a new fund for Community Planning Partnerships to regenerate communities; tackle individual poverty, and overcome barriers to work. The new fund features within the local government settlement, and totals £145 million in each year between 2008-11.

  The new fund replaces seven existing funding streams, including the Community Regeneration Fund.

Courts

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when business will be transferred from sheriff courts serving Grampian Highlands and Islands to new JP courts.

Fergus Ewing: JP courts will be established in Grampian Highland and Islands when the existing district courts come under the management of the Scottish Court Service. We expect this to happen in June 2008.

  Business will be transferred from sheriff courts to JP and district courts during the first half of 2008, in line with the Crown Office’s revised marking guidance and the new power that the district and JP courts will have to disqualify people from driving in cases other than "totting-up" cases. As in other areas of Scotland, there will be on-going communication between the Justices’ Training Committee of Grampian Highland and Islands, the Crown Office and the Judicial Studies Committee to ensure that justices of the peace and legal advisers are properly equipped to deal with any new types of cases that are transferred to the JP or district courts.

Courts

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is planned or has been undertaken for JPs prior to business being transferred to the new JP courts in Grampian Highlands and Islands.

Fergus Ewing: During the last three months almost all JPs throughout Scotland, including those in Grampian Highland and Islands, have undertaken a three day course of residential training organised by the Judicial Studies Committee.

  Since 10 December 2007, planning and reporting on the training of JPs in Grampian Highlands and Islands has been the responsibility of the Justices’ Training Committee for that sheriffdom. This committee is made up of justices of the peace, a sheriff and a legal assessor. The committee is currently considering the training needs of different parts of the sheriffdom, and is discussing with the Scottish Government the possibility of holding a further residential event for JPs before June 2008, when courts in Grampian, Highlands and Islands come under the management of the Scottish Court Service.

Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many JPs in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross will be eligible to undertake signing duties after the provisions of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 comes into force.

Kenny MacAskill: I anticipate that seven JPs in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross will be eligible to undertake signing duties after the provisions of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act come into force on 10 December 2007. From 10 December, all local authority councillors in the area have the same signing powers that supplemental list JPs currently have. In addition, people who used to be JPs will still be able to sign applications for passports, shotgun certificates and firearm licences in a personal capacity.

Culture

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the Scottish Arts Council budget for 2007-08 is being spent on the national performing companies.

Linda Fabiani: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6596 on 27 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Domestic Abuse

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its budget for promoting equality will be allocated to providing support services for women and children affected by domestic abuse and those affected by the broader issues of violence against women in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11 at 2007-08 prices, also showing the year-on-year percentage changes in real terms.

Stewart Maxwell: The following table shows the Scottish Government’s funding for the Equality Unit and Education budgets, to provide support services for women and children affected by domestic abuse and those affected by the broader issues of violence against women:

  Spending Review 2004, (Million)

  

 Equality Budget
2007-08
14.4 baseline
  16.9 actual allocation



 Violence Against Women (included in Equality Budget)
7.2 baseline
8.7 actual allocation


 Education Spending on Violence Against Women (not in Equality Budget)
 None



  Spending Review 2007, (Million)

  

 2008-09
 2009-10
 2010-11
 Total
Increase Over 3 Yearson Actual 2007-08 Allocation


 18.8
 20.8
 21.4
 61.0
 10.3


9.9(14%) 
11.9(37%)
12.58(45%)
34.38
 8.28


 5
 3
 2
 10
 10

Domestic Abuse

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its budget will be allocated to tackling violence against women, providing support to victims of domestic abuse and helping those affected by the broader issues of violence against women in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11 at 2007-08 prices, also broken down by funding stream.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government has allocated £9.9 million in 2008-09, £11.9 million in 2009-10 and £12.58 million in 20010-11 to the Violence Against Women Team’s budget to tackle violence against women, including domestic abuse. £5 million in 2008-09, £3 million in 2009-10 and £2 million in 2010-11 has also been allocated to the education budget for work to tackle domestic abuse. The actual funding stream allocations for this work is currently being finalised.

Education

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that the curriculum for excellence can be satisfactorily delivered in small rural schools.

Maureen Watt: The values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence  are not dependent on structures. It is for individual authorities to consider how best to provide an enriched curriculum for pupils in order to maximise the educational benefits for pupils.

Education

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions ministers have refused authorisation for changes to the provision of denominational education.

Maureen Watt: Ministerial consent for such changes in provision is required only in certain prescribed circumstances. Since 1999, ministers have given their consent in all such cases where it has been applied for.

Education

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has to support the position that the educational advantages offered by small schools are "more than offset by the richer and more secure environment of a larger establishment where there is a larger pool of ideas, expertise and resources", as outlined in East Ayrshire Council’s consultation document, Better Schools: Better Learning - A Strategy for Developing the School Estate .

Maureen Watt: It would be for East Ayrshire Council, whose report is quoted, to answer any questions about it.

Education

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish budget will enable East Ayrshire Council to invest the £100 million in capital expenditure that the council estimates is needed to ensure that children are educated in the best possible environment.

Maureen Watt: Levels of investment in school infrastructure in its area is a matter for East Ayrshire Council. The Scottish Budget and the concordat signed by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities provide for significant growth in the capital resources being made available to local authorities. There is almost £3 billion over the three year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to secure investment in schools and other local government infrastructure, including an extra £115 million in 2008-09 which can be invested in schools. The local government capital budget represents an average increase of 15% in each year of the settlement compared to 2007-08 figures. It is also open to authorities to maximise their capital investment in schools by utilising all available sources of funding.

Fisheries

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on how fishing quotas should be identified and whether the Scottish Government will carry out a consultation of stakeholders to establish their views on the issue.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government believes that total allowable catches (TACs) should be set in line with scientific advice on the biological state of the stock, taking into account the socio-economic impact of TAC variations on the fishing industry and fisheries communities. Stakeholders are consulted regularly in order to establish their views on the appropriate level of TAC to be set.

Food Labelling

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its views are on labelling processed ham in sausages and pies and other processed products to show their country of origin.

Richard Lochhead: There is currently nothing to stop manufacturers from declaring the origin of their products provided it is accurate and not misleading for consumers. We are currently providing incentives to manufacturers to provide this information by supporting initiatives such as the NFU’s "what is on your plate" and encouraging consumers to choose more local, sustainably sourced, food.

Forced Marriages

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) men have contacted Scottish Government agencies or departments seeking assistance or advice about forced marriages in each year since 2002.

Stewart Maxwell: This information is not available.

Forced Marriages

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to raise awareness of the unacceptability of forced marriages in Scotland and to ensure that relevant support services have the necessary access and resources to offer assistance to individuals who are subject to or under threat of forced marriages.

Stewart Maxwell: In 2008, the Scottish Government plans to consult the people of Scotland on whether civil legislation should be introduced to protect those affected by forced marriage, or that there is currently sufficient legal protection. This consultation will link with the work currently underway within communities to raise awareness of this very serious issue. Members of the Forced Marriage Network are key to this activity and the network will reconvene in 2008 to further develop the Scottish Government’s work in this area.

  The majority of the organisations working to support those affected by forced marriage are funded by the Scottish Government. We recently demonstrated our on-going commitment to tackling Violence Against Women by allocating £40 million over the next three years to this work.

Forced Marriages

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific support there is for victims of forced marriages.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government is working with partners in the public and voluntary sector to progress action in Scotland on this matter. Currently, there are a range of organisations working with those affected by forced marriage, including Shakti and Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid, Saheliya, Amina the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre and the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland). This is in addition to mainstream services offered by the police, local authorities and Women’s Aid groups. All these organisations are members of the Scottish Forced Marriage Network which was established in March 2005, and played a key role in the joint UK Government/Scottish Government consultation on whether to criminalise forced marriage. It is planned to reconvene the network in 2008 to further develop the Scottish Government’s work to tackle this very serious issue.

Forced Marriages

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures and protocols are in place with (a) the Home Office and (b) other nations in respect of Scottish nationals who are the victims of forced marriages and who have been removed from Scotland.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government works with the joint Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit in relation to policy development in this area. Organisations that directly support those affected by forced marriage in Scotland work closely with the Forced Marriage Unit in cases where Scottish nationals have been removed from Scotland.

Foster Care and Adoption

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase allowances to kinship carers to the same level as the allowance given to foster carers who have no relationship to the child and, if so, when.

Adam Ingram: Getting it right for every child in kinship and foster care - the National Kinship and Foster Care Strategy was published on 4 December 2007. Parliamentary question S3W-7325 announced the launch of the strategy and a consultation on associated regulations. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The strategy sets out our proposals for kinship carers. Approved kinship carers of looked after children will be given the same level of support by local authorities, including the payment of an equivalent level of financial support as that paid to their foster carers. This approach has been agreed with local government as part of the government’s concordat with COSLA published on 14 November 2007. We anticipate each local authority will begin the process of approval during 2008-09. To support this, the expert reference group established by the strategy will recommend an approval process, which local authorities can use and adapt for their local purposes.

  The Scottish Government will fund Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) to provide a service for all kinship carers covering advice, information and support on income, tax and benefits entitlements and relevant legal issues. We anticipate that this service will be introduced from spring 2008.

  In addition, COSLA has agreed to recommend to its members that they discuss their approach and criteria for the payment of discretionary support of kinship carers under the powers local authorities already have. This will ensure as far as possible that there is consistent local advice and approaches to supporting kinship carers.

Fuel Poverty

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of fuel poverty programmes includes consideration of the programmes being made available to vulnerable groups, such as families with children aged under five, who are in fuel poverty.

Stewart Maxwell: I have asked officials to examine the potential to improve and build on the success achieved by current programmes to ensure that they are operating fairly across Scotland and that available resources are going where they can make the most impact upon ending fuel poverty including whether they are targeted at the appropriate population groups.

Gaelic

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there have been benefits in securing new Gaelic medium schooling through the operation of the Gaelic specific grant over recent years.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any benefit in administering the Gaelic specific grant from the fact that, in any given year, the amounts allocated to individual authorities could be varied to meet local circumstances and development initiatives.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there is a case for retaining the Gaelic specific grant in the long term to secure an increasing number of Gaelic medium places in different parts of Scotland.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that every local authority should receive a share of the Gaelic specific grant, whether or not they provide Gaelic medium education.

Linda Fabiani: Gaelic specific grants are available to local authorities towards the cost of delivering Gaelic education within their area, or towards the cost of providing access to it in another authority’s area. A percentage of this grant scheme is also directed towards Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig, the National Gaelic Resource Centre. Following approval from ministers, Gaelic specific grants are allocated to those authorities who are providing, or plan to provide, Gaelic education. All authorities in Scotland, however, may submit applications for funding. The real value of this grant scheme is its flexibility to promote the development of Gaelic education in certain areas of the country or certain sectors within education in line with local requirements. In order to promote and extend Gaelic education in Scotland, this grant scheme will be retained as a ring-fenced grant scheme and it will continue to be administered flexibly so that awards of grant can be made to meet the changing pattern of need as developments are undertaken and further progress is made.

Health

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce more fast track diagnostic and treatment centres, as promised in the SNP manifesto.

Nicola Sturgeon: We will work closely with NHS boards to introduce more localised access to diagnostic and treatment services as part of the implementation of our plans for an 18 week waiting time standard from referral to treatment.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent in each year of the spending review period on the additional stockpiles of clinical countermeasures announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 22 November 2007 ( Official Report c. 3731).

Nicola Sturgeon: The amount spent on clinical countermeasures will depend upon the competitive procurement process. However, the Scottish Government’s draft budget makes provision for an expenditure of over £100 million on clinical countermeasures over the next three years.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive from which funding stream or streams the spending on additional stockpiles of clinical countermeasures announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 22 November 2007 ( Official Report c. 3731) will come.

Nicola Sturgeon: The increase in stockpiles of clinical countermeasures for a flu pandemic will be funded through the Health and Wellbeing portfolio and will be a mixture of resource and capital spend.

Income

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) individuals, (b) families and (c) children it estimates are in the three lowest income deciles identified in The Government Economic Strategy .

Stewart Maxwell: It is estimated that there are (a) 1,500,000 individuals, (b) 860,000 families and (c) 350,000 children in the three lowest income deciles.

  These estimates were calculated using the Department for Work and Pensions’ 2005-06 Family Resources Survey.

Income

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of income was held by those in the three (a) lowest and (b) highest income deciles identified in The Government Economic Strategy in (i) 1950, (ii) 1960, (iii) 1970 and (iv) each year since 1980.

Stewart Maxwell: Information for each year since 1994-95 is published on the Scottish Government Income and Poverty website:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/IncomePoverty/CoreAnalysis .

  Information for previous years in not held centrally.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to identify victims of human trafficking who have been brought into Scotland.

Kenny MacAskill: Scottish police forces are currently participating in Operation Pentameter 2, a UK-wide multi-agency operation intended to combat human trafficking and identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.

  The UK Human Trafficking Centre has developed best-practice guidelines on the interviewing and identification of suspected victims of trafficking which have been included in the Senior Investigating Officer’s pack which has been sent out to all UK police forces.

  The Scottish Government provides funding to the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) in Glasgow, which works to identify and support victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. We have recently provided additional funding to TARA to enable them to provide training and advice on victim identification to local authorities in other parts of Scotland.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to victims of human trafficking in Scotland.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government provides funding to the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) in Glasgow, which provides specialist support to adult female victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Strathclyde area. The Scottish Government has recently offered TARA additional funding of £70,950 to enable them to extend their coverage to other parts of Scotland.

  Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide support to unaccompanied children within their area, which would include victims of trafficking. The Scottish Government has recently circulated a model protocol on care of child victims of trafficking to Child Protection Committees.

  Local authorities currently have no legal obligation to provide support to victims who would otherwise have no recourse to public funds. The Scottish Government has set aside provision that can be drawn down by local authorities on a case-by-case basis to cover the cost of providing support to such victims of trafficking and will be writing to notify local authorities of these arrangements shortly.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many victims of human trafficking have been identified in Scotland in each of the last three years.

Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of victims of trafficking identified in Scotland is not held centrally.

  The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) provides support to adult female victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Glasgow area. The number of victims of trafficking they have worked with in each of the last three years is:

  2005 - two women;

  2006 - seven women, and

  2007 (so far) - eight women.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with the UK Government regarding efforts to tackle human trafficking.

Kenny MacAskill: Scottish ministers sit on the UK Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group with responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the UK Action Plan and the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings. Scottish Government officials sit on the Council of Europe Convention Project Board, with overarching responsibility for ensuring the UK is compliant with the provisions of the convention.

  Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with UK Government officials and others on matters relating to human trafficking.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the bail system with regard to rape suspects.

Kenny MacAskill: Provisions contained in sections 1-6 of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 came into force on 10 December 2007. These provisions contain reforms to the system of bail. Section 2 provides that if someone is accused of a violent or sexual offence (or drug trafficking) in solemn proceedings, and they have a similar solemn previous conviction, they may be granted bail only in exceptional circumstances.

  We have no other plans to change the bail system with regard to rape suspects.

Life Expectancy

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average life expectancy is for (a) males and (b) females in the three (i) lowest and (ii) highest income deciles identified in The Government Economic Strategy .

Stewart Maxwell: We do not currently hold data for average life expectancy for male and females in Scotland broken down by income decile.

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-42 by Nicola Sturgeon on 31 May 2007, whether it has now received a report from the Scottish Health Council on the community engagement process undertaken by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in the review of services at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-41 by Nicola Sturgeon on 31 May 2007, whether it is yet aware of any members of the community engagement panel involved in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s review of services at the Vale of Leven Hospital who are satisfied with the process or the outcome of that review.

Nicola Sturgeon: As I made clear in my previous response, it is imperative that NHS boards engage with patients and the public and that their views are fully taken into account as proposals for service change are developed. The remit of the Independent Scrutiny Panel (ISP) which I set up to consider NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s (NGSCC) proposals included assessing the degree to which the board’s pre-consultation proposals appropriately took account of the views of local stakeholders. The ISP received an interim report from the Scottish Health Council on the board’s engagement process to inform this part of their work.

  The ISP report was published on 4 December and is available on the panel’s website: http://www.independentscrutinypanels.org.uk/index.html.

  I expect NHSGGC to take full account of the findings of the ISP in developing its proposals for public consultation. As with any proposals for significant service change, final decisions will rest with ministers. In making a decision I will take full account of all the available information, including the ISP report and the Scottish Health Council report on the board’s consultation process.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the quality of education provided in Sorn Primary School, East Ayrshire.

Maureen Watt: The quality of education in Sorn Primary School is the responsibility of East Ayrshire Council. We expect East Ayrshire Council to take the necessary action to secure continuous improvement in their schools and our experience is that this is happening.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the quality of education provided in Littlemill Primary School, East Ayrshire.

Maureen Watt: The quality of education in Littlemill Primary School is the responsibility of East Ayrshire Council. We expect East Ayrshire Council to take the necessary action to secure continuous improvement in their schools and our experience is that this is happening.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the quality of education provided in St Xavier’s Primary School, East Ayrshire.

Maureen Watt: The quality of education in St Xavier’s Primary School is the responsibility of East Ayrshire Council. We expect East Ayrshire Council to take the necessary action to secure continuous improvement in their schools and our experience is that this is happening.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines a rural school.

Maureen Watt: There is no legal definition of a rural school in Scotland. However, for statistical purposes the Scottish Government classifies any school located in an "accessible rural", "remote rural" or "very remote rural" settlement as a rural school. These definitions form part of our urban / rural classification, the details of which are available on the Scottish Government website at:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/31114822/0 .

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it takes account of local circumstances and social factors when considering whether to authorise the closure of rural schools.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government re-issued comprehensive guidance to local authorities on proposals for changes to the school estate on 11 October 2007 setting out how ministers expect councils to handle all school closure proposals, whether or not requiring ministerial consent. A copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43920).

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that small schools can provide a learning environment that promotes confidence, responsible citizenship and the opportunity to contribute effectively.

Maureen Watt: It is for individual authorities to consider how best to provide an enriched curriculum for pupils in order to maximise the educational benefits for pupils.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that small schools can provide the appropriate range of extra-curricular activities.

Maureen Watt: It is for individual authorities to consider how best to provide an enriched curriculum for pupils in order to maximise the educational benefits for pupils, including opportunities for personal achievement.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that small schools provide adequate opportunities for pupils to develop social skills.

Maureen Watt: It is for individual local authorities to consider how best to provide opportunities through policies and curriculum programmes for pupils to develop social skills.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities are required to take account of placing requests when considering the closure of small rural schools.

Maureen Watt: Statute does not prescribe which specific issues shall be taken account of by authorities when considering whether to close a school, rural or urban. Pupil rolls and projections and all the factors which may bear on them will very likely be relevant considerations in most cases, as reflected in recently reissued guidance to local authorities on changes to the school estate. A copy of the guidance is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43920).

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that the curriculum for excellence can be satisfactorily delivered in all schools in West Dunbartonshire.

Maureen Watt: The values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence  are not dependent on structures. It is for individual authorities and schools to consider how best to provide an enriched curriculum for pupils in order to maximise the educational benefits for pupils.

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the quality of the education and environment provided in Dumbarton Academy.

Maureen Watt: The quality of education and environment provided in Dumbarton Academy is the responsibility of West Dunbartonshire Council. We expect West Dunbartonshire Council to take the necessary action to secure continuous improvement in the school and our experience is that this is happening.

Scottish Government Expenditure

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to move resources towards areas of disadvantage over the next three-year spending period.

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to move resources from more affluent areas to areas of disadvantage over the next three-year spending period.

Stewart Maxwell: The resources allocated by the Scottish Government to both local government and NHS boards across Scotland take account of relative levels of deprivation.

  In addition, over the next three years the Scottish Government will provide £435 million to Community Planning Partnerships, in order to tackle poverty and disadvantage in the most deprived communities around Scotland.

Teachers

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers are currently being trained in Scottish universities.

Maureen Watt: The latest year for which full data are available is 2005-06 when there were 7,590 teachers being trained in Scottish universities. The figures are based on returns received from the Higher Education Statistics Agency and have been rounded to the nearest five.

  Student data for 2006-07 will be available early next year and data for 2007-08 will be available early in 2009.

Waste Management

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements it intends to make to replace or continue Strategic Waste Fund (SWF) 150 funding to community recycling initiatives.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Budget announcement on 14 November 2007 outlined our intention to transfer the Strategic Waste Fund to the main local government settlement. This transfer will include monies awarded via the "SWF 150" scheme and other resources provided to local authorities under the Strategic Waste Fund for community recycling initiatives in their area.

  As well as the resources transferred to the local government settlement, the Budget document outlined a zero waste provision to assist implementation of the National Waste Plan. The Budget document indicated that some of these resources would be used to support community recycling groups. The Scottish Government is currently considering with the Community Recycling Network for Scotland and the Waste and Resources Action Programme exactly how these resources should be used. In particular, we are considering targeting these resources at waste prevention, innovation in recycling, and community recycling groups seeking to become social entrepreneurs.

Waste Management

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is meeting current targets for (a) reducing, (b) reusing and (c) recycling waste and what targets are being set to be achieved under each category by 2011.

Richard Lochhead: We have a target to halt the growth of municipal solid waste by 2010. Latest figures suggest municipal waste growth is between 1% to 1.5%.

  We have no targets for the reuse of waste but the impact of successful programmes on reuse is to contribute to the target on halting waste growth.

  We have a target of recycling/composting 30% of waste by 2008. Latest figures for the year July 2006 to June 2007 show that we are recycling 29.8% of municipal waste. We estimate that Scotland needs to achieve around 40% recycling/composting of municipal waste by 2010, to meet our share of the EU Landfill Directive target on reducing the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill.

  The National Waste Plan also has a target of 55% recycling/composting by 2020.

  Finally, there are recycling targets laid down in producer responsibility regimes, such as the producer responsibility system for packaging. The Scottish Government, and other government departments across the United Kingdom, are consulting on recycling targets for packaging for 2008 and thereafter. This consultation can be found at  http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/packaging-reg07/consultation.pdf. It includes information on current performance.

Waste Management

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on proposals for increased incineration of waste as an alternative to landfill.

Richard Lochhead: The current National Waste Plan envisaged that energy would be recovered from 14% of municipal waste by 2020.

  The Scottish Government has received an Outline Business Case from the City of Edinburgh Council, West Lothian Council, East Lothian Council, Midlothian Council and Scottish Borders Council outlining their proposals for residual waste treatment as an alternative to landfill. This Outline Business Case is not technology specific. We are expecting another Outline Business Case from North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council shortly. The Scottish Government has not yet decided whether these Outline Business Cases should receive any funding from government.

  We are considering the way ahead on waste policy generally, following the Scottish Government’s waste summit on 3 October 2007. Our consideration includes dealing with the question of the role of energy from waste as we move towards a zero waste Scotland. We intend to make an announcement in the New Year on waste policy.

  We are aware of a number of proposed energy from waste plants being built without financial support from government. Any such plants would be subject to planning permission requirements and would need to be licensed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.